Antifriction bearings of the generic type have an outer ring and an inner ring with rolling bodies, preferably balls, which roll between them. The rolling bodies are positioned by a rolling body cage. Here, the rolling body cage is formed from a solid annular part with rolling body pockets made radially in it. Annular parts of this type have a comparatively high mass moment of inertia, the acceleration and deceleration forces of which in the case of changing relative speeds between the outer and inner rings have to be applied by the rolling bodies. Here, in particular, high wear occurs on the rolling body pockets.
In the case of reduced mass annular parts for what are known as “outer land guided” rolling body cages with an annular part width which decreases over the axial extent of the annular part, in which annular parts the rolling body cage is guided on that side of the rolling bodies which faces away from the contact angle at the radially greater diameter, that is to say at the broader part of the annular part, considerable friction occurs as a result of churning losses which are caused by a blockade of the lubricant flow.
Although what are known as “inner land guided” rolling body cages with an annular part, in which a cage guiding face is guided on the side which faces the contact angle at the radially smaller diameter, exhibit lower churning losses, the spatially constricted region for the guidance of the rolling body cage is constricted here, with the result that the rolling body cage tends to tilt and can cause nonround running of the antifriction bearing.
Annular parts for increasing the cage guiding face with an asymmetrical construction have therefore been proposed, in which the plane of the rolling body center points is displaced in the axial direction, with the result that two annular sections with different faces are formed, of which faces the larger is used as cage guiding face. This promises quieter running of the antifriction bearing, it being necessary to accept churning losses which are dependent on viscosity and speed as a result of the enlarged cage guiding face, which churning losses can be considerable depending on the flooding of the bearings with lubricants.
Furthermore, DE 103 43 881 A1 discloses a rolling body cage with a cage guiding face which is guided on the side which faces away from the contact angle at the greater diameter of the outer ring. Here, depressions which receive lubricant are provided on the guide face. As a result of the small supporting surface area of the cage guiding face, tilting of the rolling body cage and therefore nonquiet running of the antifriction bearing occur, in particular in high rotational speed applications such as turbochargers. Furthermore, the churning losses are high as a result of the rolling body cage which is arranged obliquely with respect to the rotational axis. On account of their lack of depth, the disclosed channels are not suitable for damping the rolling body cage with respect to the outer ring. Damping of the rolling body cage is not possible and also not provided in the disclosed angular contact ball bearing system as a result of the restricted cage guiding face.